We haven’t a clue how to stop abusive men

Victims of domestic violence are let down by muddle-headed thinking and penny-pinching

The bloodied face of a woman punched, thrown, headbutted and knocked unconscious by a boyfriend was in the news last week not because it was an unusual event, but because her attacker’s only punishment was a 12-month community order, a restraining order and a £75 compensation payment. The magistrates thought this an appropriate sanction for a prolonged attack that ended with the victim fleeing through her kitchen window.

Louise Reed is understandably devastated by the sentence given to Robert Jenney, a man she had known since she was 13 but had been going out with for only a few months. She says her belief that she was a strong and independent woman vanished the instant she saw an “unforgettable” look of hatred and anger on…

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